


The words light the way

by chaos_is_welcome



Category: The Last Kingdom (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family History, Forgiveness, Friendship, Other, Reading, Season/Series 02, Slavery, TLKFFF2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:08:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25273672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaos_is_welcome/pseuds/chaos_is_welcome
Summary: Before he leaves for North Umbria to fulfill his first duty as King Alfred's once-again oath man, the King hands him a folded parchment.   "You should read this before you meet Guthred," Alfred says, and dismisses Uhtred with a wave of his hand.For TLKFFF prompt #63: Uhtred finds out Finan can read.
Relationships: Finan & Uhtred of Bebbanburg, Gisela/Uhtred of Bebbanburg
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33
Collections: The Last Kingdom Fanfic Fest





	The words light the way

Before he leaves for North Umbria to fulfill his first duty as King Alfred's once-again oath man, the King hands him a folded parchment. "You should read this before you meet Guthred," Alfred says, and dismisses Uhtred with a wave of his hand.

Uhtred looks at the letter, and thinks about throwing it in the fire on his way out of the room. He is still furious that he's been forced yet again to Alfred's service, this time by his loyalty and duty to his brother. Even though Alfred can see what it costs him, he doesn't seem to care, and for that Uhtred feels dislike simmering under the surface again. He knows he is alive only because Alfred sent Ragnar for him, although Beocca has told him it was Aethelflaed who advocated for him. Dear, sweet, youthful Aethelflaed, barely a woman and far to good for her family of pious Saxon nobility.

He goes to Gisela in the room they are renting, throwing the letter on the table so he can take off his boots. 

"What's this?" She asks, fingering the note before she moves to his shoulders. 

"Alfred says I should read it before I see your brother." He takes her hand and pulls her into his lap, kissing down the fine line of her exposed neck.

"And will you listen to King Alfred?" She asks tipping her head back to provide him better access and threading her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck.

He knows what he wants, and it isn't talking about Alfred. He lifts her, and it isn't long until Gisela is moaning his name. That is what he wants, and he gets it.

**

A few days later, Uhtred finds himself in an alehouse in Loidis talking strategy with Brida, Rangar, Beocca, and Finan. Steapa is there, too, but he does not contribute, but instead listens as they argue about Guthred, the Thurginson brothers, and attacking Dunholm. Uhtred feels adrift, knowing what Alfred wants does not necessarily align with what he wants. They talk and talk, and Brida wants to kill everyone (some things never change) and eventually Finan comes up with a plan that can work. So they sleep, then they ride, and then they sleep again. 

Or rather, they should be sleeping. As their camp falls quiet, Uhtred feels the letter from Alfred in his pocket, and sits up as he draws it out. He leans close to the fire so he can read the words, written in Alfred's familiar scrawling script.

"Uhtred, I hope these words help you on your path, as they have helped me.

God and King,  
by your mercy,  
pardon the sins of your servant.  
Deliver him from all the bonds of the enemy  
that he may cling to your commandments with all his heart,  
and always love you alone with all his strength,  
and one day be counted with your blessed ones;  
through Christ our Lord. Amen."

Curse Alfred and his never-ending love of prayer and scripture. "Horse shit," Uhtred grumbles, wading the parchment and throwing it over his shoulder. As if he could forgive Guthred, or want the nailed God to forgive Guthred's sins. Uhtred would rather the traitorous man he had been willing to serve freeze at Hel's hands. Of course, Christians believed Hell to be a hot place, and that suited Uhtred, too. Either way, he would not forgive Guthred.

"It's not horse shit, Lord," Finan says softly beside him, taking him by surprise. The scarred Irishman edges closer to the fire and sits next to Uhtred, smoothing out the parchment. "It's a prayer for forgiveness."

"I know what it is, Finan, I can read."

"Perhaps Alfred thinks there is someone who needs forgivin'." Finan clarifies. "Guthred, do ye think?"

Uhtred opens his mouth to explain all the reasons why it's horse shit (one, he doesn't want to forgive Guthred; two, even if he did, a Christian prayer would not convince him to do so; three, he may damn Guthred just to piss off Alfred's pious interfering arse) when he realized that Finan can apparently read, too. "As I said, Finan, I can read, and so apparently can you."

Finan rests his arms on his knees and raises an eyebrow. "I think I'm insulted ya sound so surprised."

Uhtred looks into the flames, thinking of Leofric, who was a fine man and warrior, but was denied his own command for a long while for his inability to read. "I have know many fine warriors who can not," he says slowly, "and only a handful who can." And all of those were Ealdormen or the king's commanders, he does not say. 

Finan exhales, and he scrubs one hand through his beard as the other holds the parchment. "Who taught ye to read?"

Uhtred does not miss the redirect. His Irishman very rarely speaks of himself and where he comes from, which is odd for a man who likes to talk as much as Finan does. "Father Beocca tried when I was a child at Bebbanburg," Uhtred says, smiling as he remembers the priest in those days long ago. "I was a terrible student though, and he did not finish the job until I came to Winchester as a man."

Finan twitches his leg, staring into the fire. "My father's man taught me. Ciarnan was his name, and he taught me most of what I know. He taught me to fight." There is a sadness in Finan's voice, and Uhtred thinks Ciarnan must be dead, and he must have been important.

Uhtred had not been expecting that Finan's father would have a man, which means that Finan was not a peasant. "You were a lord?" He asks carefully.

Finan laughs, and it is without humor. "Yes, and more. By marriage I was to be a king. But like ye, I was betrayed."

Who had betrayed Finan for him to end up in slavery? He never spoke of returning to Ireland, so Uhtred had assumed he had nothing to return to. "Do you pray to your God for your betrayer's forgiveness?"

"I hope they both rot in the flames of hell," Finan says, yet there is no malice. But at the same time, I am grateful the good Lord saw fit to free me from the life I was livin' there. Although, it woulda been better if he hadn't seen fit to put me in chains for four years to get here."

"You didn't like your life in Ireland," Uhtred says, and it's not a question. 

"It was empty," he said. "Empty and meaningless. It took my wife humping my brother and him sellin' me to Sverri to see that." Uhtred makes a fist, thinking of Finan's bravery, and loyalty, and the scars he knows the man bears.

Finan raises the parchment. "When I read this Lord, I say my own name, for I have done many things that need forgivin'. Forgiveness, that isn't horse shit. Sometimes ye need to forgive yerself, sometimes ye need to forgive others. Alfred may think ye need to forgive Guthred, but the king's royal arse doesn't matter, Uhtred. It's what is in her heart that matters."

"Are you sure you are not a poet instead of a warrior?" Uhtred teases with a smile. 

Finan stands, handing the parchment back to him. "Ye should rest, we ride before dawn. With any luck, Sigfried and Erik will not breathe much longer."

Uhtred lays down on his furs and stares at the stars, thinking about the things he has learned because of Alfred's misplaced written prayer. Finan was to be a king, yet fate instead bound him in chains and brought him across the sea to England. Uhtred thinks about his own blood feud, and his wife back in Winchester, and his brother sleeping close by with Brida. He imagines the betrayal of brother and wife, and decides that Finan's scars are far deeper than he realized.

**Author's Note:**

> This was for the TLKFFF prompt #63: Uhtred finds out Finan can read.
> 
> Prayer source:  
> https://acollectionofprayers.com/tag/9th-century/
> 
> Really having fun with these prompts. Love our little fandom! Hope you enjoyed.


End file.
